Product Description

Product Description

Deepen your understanding of Salinger's world-famous novel with this Owlsgate 35 study guide. We all know that Holden Caulfield dislikes phoneys, admires the innocence of little kids and has a nervous breakdown. But there's more to talk about than alienation and ghastly hats. In 35 digestible and comprehensive topics, you can examine theme and structure, discover more about novelistic techniques like symbolism, character and setting (including the answer to Mr Antolini), and explore the significance of Holden's journey. As ever with Owlsgate 35s, there's specific advice on tackling essays and exam questions on the novel.Other Owlsgate 35s study guides include Of Mice and Men, Animal Farm, Death of a Salesman, Ozymandias of Egypt and Romeo and Juliet.

I have a great idea for Amazon to make lots of money. Simply get a study guide, or someone's summary of a book, then give it the same name as the book upon which it written. Finally, offer it on Kindle for a dollar so that people just buy it because it's a disposable amount. Thus, when people realise it's not the actual novel, they can't be bothered to pursue Amazon for such a meagre sum.But seriously, I'm reluctant to give this an unfair 1-star rating, because it's not the fault of its author that it's probably being downloaded erroneously when people think it's the actually novel. But the truth is, I've not read it. And won't.Look more carefully than I did, people.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 starsGood.Oct. 21 2011

By Spartacus541 - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Tried to find a copy of the book itself for kindle, it is not available as of yet, looks like a pretty decent study guide though. If you have a class that involves this bookor own the book, I would purchase this as a partner.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 starsThis is NOT the book, but a study guide, it should be labeled betterDec 7 2011

By Summer Different - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Tried to buy the book but this is a study guide only. Bad job on amazon's part to make it unclear when you are trying to order a book and get some review etc instead.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 starsA superb, comprehensive, and incisive analysis of Catcher in the RyeApril 24 2014

By Israel Drazin - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Whether readers agree with each of the many incisive understandings that the author, David Neilson, makes about this book, even if readers might feel that he missed a point and did not get the full meaning, they will get a much better understanding of “Catcher in the Rye” by reading his analysis. He is comprehensive in his discussion of 35 different aspects of the novel. And what he says prompts readers to form their own ideas.

Among much else, he feels that readers who see the book as simply describing an adolescent's struggle to understand and deal with life are missing many of the symbols in the novel. He sees the book describing J. D. Salinger's opinion about the world, his many social criticisms, and why he, Salinger, secluded himself from the world. Neilson not only examines the three day experiences of 16-year-old Holden Caulfield by looking at each event and each of Holden’s main thoughts and seeing their significance, he also does the same for Holden's brothers and sister, his father and mother, his girlfriends Jane and Sally, as well as the schools he attended and his teachers, and why the novel is set in New York, and why in the winter. He also looks at Holden's ranting style and what it is telling us, his lack of adaptability, and what he is expressing when he calls something phony. Neilson interprets the story as Holden deteriorating into a mental breakdown and, in his opinion, Holden will never fully recover from it; he will always be alienated from society. This interpretation fits in with Neilson’s idea that the novel expresses Salinger's own views and why he secluded himself.

Neilson’s analysis of the depth of meaning in each major thought and every event of the novel will leave us thinking that Salinger's ability to capture so much in this novel and cause us to think about life is the reason this book became such a success. He writes "Holden's grasp for essentials...is the main secret of the book's outstanding success."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 starsIt took me thirty yearsAug. 12 2012

By Tempe Mindspring - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Kindle Edition

As a teenager, I did not understand why so many fellow students thought that this was a great book. In spite of an angsted adolescence, I couldn't identify with protaganist. During my life, I had read the book at least 2 more times both times ending in feelings of anger. I had even read a quote of his reporting that Catcher in the Rye was his worst book.Not so much in the recent distant past, I read articles about this reclusive tortured person. This story is less about an adolescent; this is a story of a disassociated, tormented WWII Veteran returning home from the end of the war. He is sick in all ways especially in ways of deep depression, sever PTSD,guilt & wandering in a numb dreamlike state of being. He is angry over lost innocence & the horrors of surviving an intense war. I think that this book is most relevant with being able to emotionally communicate a mental, emotional & psyche experience of the returning veteran. I am grateful to those writers that understood the circumstances of Salinger & were able to help me understand the nature of this book.